Gougères

Tomorrow is the going away party for a co-worker.  She has declared a food throwdown!  We are broken into two teams and I am the leader of my team.  Lots of goodies are bound to be a plenty tomorrow!

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 stick unsalted butter
2 pinches of salt
1 cup all-purpose, unbleached flour
4 eggs
4 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg


Preheat the oven to 400°. Lightly grease a baking sheet.  In a medium saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter and salt and bring to a boil. Add the flour and stir it in with a wooden spoon.  Continuously stir over low heat until it pulls away from the sides of the pan (only a couple of minutes).  Remove from heat and cool for a couple of minutes.

Using a wooden spoon, add the eggs one at a time.  Make sure each egg is incorporated completely before adding another.  Add the cheese and the pepper and nutmeg.

Transfer the dough to a pastry bag and pipe small mounds onto the baking sheets.  They do not spread, so you can put them pretty close together. Bake for about 15 minutes, until puffed and lightly brown.

It can be served warm or cold.